1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication device such as a facsimile. More specifically, the present invention relates to a communication device that functions to inform a user of a communication error by printing out an error report when the communication error occurs.
2. Background Information
Japan Patent Application Publication JP-A-2002-232625 discloses a communication device, such as a facsimile, a multifunction device with a facsimile function, and the like, that prints out an error report on which a communication error is recorded when a communication error occurs. A communication error refers an error in which a connection with another communication device is disabled due to, for example, a nonexistent telephone number having been input into to that communication device.
If the communication device fails to connect, the communication device will make several additional attempts to connect to the other communication device. If the communication device cannot connect to the other communication device within a predetermined number of attempts, the communication device is generally configured to recognize the situation as a communication error. Therefore, a communication error often occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time a user has operated the communication device, such as the input of a telephone number thereto and the like. In addition, when a communication error occurs, a user is often away from the communication device. Thus, even if a communication error occurs, the user often will not notice the occurrence of the communication error. On the other hand, a communication device will be able to bring the communication error to the attention of the user by outputting an error report to the user after the occurrence of a communication error.
However, a user may have already noticed the occurrence of the communication error by the time the user reads the error report. In other words, when the user is in the vicinity of the communication device, the user may have noticed the occurrence of the communication error even if an error report is not output. However, conventional communication devices output error reports whenever a communication error occurs. Therefore, papers, toner, and the like, are wasted in order to print the error reports.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved communication device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.